Aiden Shea saved perhaps his best performance for the biggest stage.
The Denny’s Pantry star struck out 13 batters in 5 1/3 innings of work Wednesday, allowing just one run on four hits to lift the Pantrymen to a 7-1 victory over Smitty’s Pub in the championship game of the Greenfield Minor League Baseball AAA Division at Lunt Field.
“He really stifled them,” Denny’s manager Butch Martin lauded of his pitcher.
Arthur Fitzpatrick shut the door in the final inning, sealing the title for Denny’s.
At the plate, Shea helped himself with a triple and a single to go with two RBIs. Judah Glenn also had a big offensive night, smacking two hits and driving in two runs. Fitzpatrick added two hits and a pair of RBIs, while Conner Bergeron contributed an RBI bunt single and Ben Johnston chipped in with a hit.
Smitty’s Pub received two hits, including a double, from Mason Fiorey. Hunter Donahue clubbed a double, while Jonathan Ainsworth and George Gutierrez each had a hit. Gutierrez and Fiorey pitched well for the Pubmen.
American Legion
Jacob Berry came on in relief and escaped a jam, and visiting Greenfield Post 81 responded with three runs in the top of the next inning to snag a 6-1 victory over Wilbraham Post 286 Blue in an American Legion Senior Division contest, Wednesday night at Spec Pond in Wilbraham.
With the game tied 1-1 in the fourth inning and two runners on base, Berry came on to relieve starter Matt Hildreth with one out. The Mahar Regional School product got a strikeout, and a diving catch in left field by Kalen Evans got Post 81 out of the inning without taking on further damage.
“The story of the game was Berry coming in and closing the door on that inning,” Post 81 manager Kyle Phelps said. “We knew he had a strong arm. All these kids have played against him the last four years but he’s really rising to the occasion on this team. You can see the quality stuff he has.”
In the top of the fifth, Post 81 (4-1) got to work offensively. Colin Cloutier led off with a double and scored on a bunt single with an error by Garrett DeForest. Connor Waitkus made it 3-1 with an RBI single, and Ben Arnold extended the lead to 4-1 with a base hit of his own. The visitors tacked on two more runs in the seventh, and Arnold came on to pitch the final inning after Berry went 2⅔ innings.
Hildreth led the Greenfield offense with two hits and an RBI. Hunter Campbell and Bryan Baumann also added hits in the victory, as the squad used seven stolen bases to create havoc.
Post 81 returns home tonight to play the Wilbraham Red at 7 p.m.
Mickey Mantle
Jake Dodge and Jared Hubbard combined to toss a no-hitter, striking out nine batters in Pioneer Stone Seals/Scotty’s 2-0 victory over Westfield in a Pioneer Valley Youth Baseball League Mickey Mantle game, Wednesday night in Turners Falls.
Pioneer (3-3), which finished with 12 hits on the night, scored its lone two runs in the early innings and held on thanks to the pitching of Dodge and Hubbard.
Josh Brunelle had a single and a double for the hosts, while Max Leh smacked two singles and drove in a run. Gavin Rubio had the team’s other RBI, with Dalton Henderson and Jason Quinn totaling two hits apiece. Jacob Quinn, Kyle Brunelle and Hubbard each added a single.
The two teams meet again right back in Turners Falls tonight at 5:30.
• Elsewhere, a successful squeeze play in the bottom of the sixth inning propelled Frontier Alber Hearing Services to a tight 10-9 win over the Hilltown Hardwood Flooring West County Warriors at Headmaster’s Field in Deerfield.
Maxwell Edwards picked up the win on the mound for Frontier, with Gehrig Brynda picking up the save.
Kyle Barnes singled and drove in a run for Frontier, while Brynda had two hits. Tyler Baranowski (single), Aidan Falla (single, two RBIs), Alec Kirkendall (single), Ben Martino (single, two RBIs) and Ben Zaranek (RBI) all contributed in the victory.
For the Warriors, Rosco Palmer came up big in his Mantle debut with a pair of hits and two RBIs. Liam O’Donnell, Evan Shippee and Wyatt Bandy-Page also drove in runs. Matt Pollen was 2-for-2, while Shippee, Palmer and Anthony Moffatt had two hits apiece.
• In action played Tuesday, the Hilltown Hardwood Flooring West County Warriors knocked off Northampton, 9-2, in Buckland.
Liam O’Donnell got the win for the Warriors, tossing five strong innings assisted by stellar defense.
West County scored five runs in the third. Anthony Moffatt picked up an RBI, while Wyatt Bandy-Page laced a two-run double and Matt Pollen also recorded an RBI in the frame.